Home audio and video: Premium vs. generic cables

Stores make far more from selling "add-ons" then selling you your HDTV -
Profit margins on these cables are almost as outrageous as they stories the salespeople tell about what will happen if you don't buy hundreds of dollars of things you don't need. You are terrorized with threats of "Destroyed experience", "Fried equipment", etc.

Go to the Apple Store - 6 foot HDMI or component video for $19.99 versus $189.99 at circuit city for monster cables - actual cost to store is around $ 30.00 according to former employees

Cables and connections for stereo, HDTV, or any electronic media can be compared to hoses for moving water around your house. If you have a pump that will deliver 50 gallons of water per minute and you need to deliver 75 gallons per minute to some plants or a fountain, sorry. It will deliver 50 gallons max and your fountain will not chirp merrily, it will just slog along.

Cables have a maximum delivery capablity and if you don't meet or exceed that your media will suffer. But on the same line of thought, if your plumbing will deliver 200 gallons of water and your pump will supply 100, you have wasted a lot of capability (which you paid for and will never get). Same with some of the monster cables that are around today, they are built to deliver ear shattering amount of wattage to speakers that if you did deliver, would soon reduce your ability to hear it to deafness.

The idea behind HDTV is that they are now sliding more data down the channels, and you can't do that with the old cables (maybe 25 gallon pipes). Same with HD DVD, Blue Ray and all the new things. You need to have a pipe that will deliver the amount that is being sent. You definitely need HDMI or better when using any HD device. You can use the other cabling (component, s-type, etc) but there is a difference. Some things won't even work without the proper cable, like upconversion to an HD set.

As for the price, that is something else entirely. Just because you pay $100 for a hose, doesn't mean it is made to stand the pressure of delivery. It is almost a matter of 'You get what you pay for', but not quite. There are connections at both ends of the hose and there are connections at both ends that belong to the other components, like your TV and the HD DVD. They are just as critical as the cable, they could be below par so that needs to be checked in the buying phase. I will say that buying cable from a reputable source has always made sense (when money is no object). I have however, bought from many different sources and compared and find that workmanship, and a quality product is not guaranteed by price.

What I have done is buy a great cable at a high price (you are going to need many cables by the way) and then bought a few from other sources at reasonable prices and compared them. Most have a return policy anyway, so the ones that didn't perform, I just sent back. Some times the ones that went back were the high priced ones. If you can't see or hear the difference, what are you paying for?

I myself just bought a 37 inch HD LCD TV.
I am lucky because my best friend does A/V installations for a living.
I asked him the very same questions about cables. He said, most all the cables are going to do the job without buying into the high end stuff. ie. Monster etc. Radio Shack would work fine or any place that sells component and composite cables. You won't hear the difference.
The one cable he said you should get a high end one for is the HDMI cable. Hope this helps, it saved me some doe.
Rob

It is quite simple. Go always for the best posible connection. Type of connectors on your components will dictate the connection. All modern devices have HDMI and I would recommend sticking to it. If you have to (older components), keep your connections digital.
For video: for digital HDMI or DVI, and for analog composite (red, green, and blue cable)
For sound: optical or coaxial.

Generaly speaking, shorter the cable better the connection. Decent store should not sell you "thick" cable that is only 3ft long. Thickness translates into less signal loss, but you need it only for cables longer than say 12ft.
Always check monoprice.com for all your cable needs. You might end up paying up to 50x less than for identical cable from retail store.

Because HDTV (and HDMI) is all digital, the cables you HDMI cables shouldn't matter if they are gold or regular. It may make some slight difference with analogue, but because HDMI is a digital interface, it shouldn't make a difference.

Yes, Derek the $15 cable will work and the $100 "premium" cable might give you better performance. A good comparison would be a low cost auto versus a luxury car, both accomplish their purpose, and a person would believe that the "premium" you pay for the luxury car is justified in both performance and reliabilty, unfortunately, that is not always the case. The same is true in cables.

I presumed that you have done some research before buying the HDTV. I suggest you do the same on the cabling. There are a number of home theater/av magazines, as well as web sites, that test, evaluate, and/or review the various types and brands of cables, you might be suprised. By during this you, you can insure that the "premium" cable being offered is just that. My preference has always been to use a good "quality" cable, not a cable with premium price and recommend that you do the same.

A year or two ago Consumer Reports did a test of A/V cables, comparing good quality cables to the premium brands. Rather than rely on subject observations of perceived picture/sound quality, they used electronic test equipment to measure signal degradation, noise, impedance, etc. Their results, you don't need to spend $100+ for a premium cable (ie: monster cable), as there was virtually no measurable difference between expensive cables and good quality ones in the $15-30 range. By the same token, don't expect a 99-cent bargain cable to be as good since the connectors and construction will not be of the best quality.

There is no physical reason for one of these cables to be better then the rest.This myth has been debunked so many times it's getting ridiculous.Scientific test show there is no difference but these expensive cable makers (monster etc.)plus people who need the status of a $100 plus cable will wax poetic,about sound depth and picture clarity it is all in their minds.

First, the units, like (gasp!) VCRs, used to have the cables in the box with the unit. This seems to have gone by the wayside.

Now, every thing regarding home entertainment, needs cables and I truly believe there is a large markup, especially with the high end cables.

Do the more expensive cables transmit any better?
I really don't think so. After all there are only so many electrons traveling down the wire at a time.

The biggest advantage of more expensive cables is the very thin coating of gold on the connectors. The tinned copper or steel on inexpensive connectors is subject to oxidation, which degrades signal quality and creates nonlinerities (distortion) in analog signals. Gold-flashed connectors (which have a very thin--less than a millionth of an inch thick--gold plating) are not that much nore expensive dueto the very small amount of gold used. Any ""video" cable will have a 75 ohm impedance regardless of cost. Likewise, all the other wires in a cable will have the correct electrical characteristics no matter what price point the cable sells at.

One other area where more expensive cables are better is the shielding. Cables with 'spiral-wound' shield conductors can let in interferance that cables with foil or braided shielding would keep out. The best shielding is a combination of foil (or foil-coated mylar) and a cross-braided braid, which can be either copper or aluminum.

Once a cable has these features, more expense does not matter. You can find properly shielded cables with gold flashed connectors in the middle price ranges ($20-30) and these are totally adaquate.

Over the years I have installed and used a number of TV Systems up to my present Samsung DLP HDTV and I have never been able to see a difference in Picture quality from Premium vs inexpensive cables. Of course, the very cheapest with no shielding can be questionable- but I would try the low cost brand first and if you see some picture problems, step up to the next level. I doubt that you will ever need the Monster type.
Having said that about cables, there is certainly a difference in the Input methods- HDMI is better than component which is better than composite which is better than than RF. In summary, I would try the cheapest cable you can get for the best input mode you have.

Derek,

Don't waste your money on the monster cables. The cheap ones are better. The retail stores JUST tell you that so they can make a higher profit on the expensive junk. There are NUMEROUS websites on the internet that you can test this with. I've even had BAD experiences with the expensive cables NOT working correctly, so don't waste your money. I'm sure that there will be a number of flamers replying to this telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, but like the Wizard of Oz said, "Pay NO attention to that man behind the curtain".
It's mostly an ego trip with them. They only WANT TO THINK that they're getting the best equipment by paying astronomical prices.

Remember, my favorite quote rings truer and truer EVERY DAY:

"Great spirits are ALWAYS met with violent opposition from mediocre minds" ? Albert Einstein

We'll see how many violently oppose my opinion.

Peace,
Frank

If your video source outputs tru HD, then you will want to go with at least component cables(RBG-video + WH and Y for audio). You will not get the high quality picture from the simple AV cables no matter what you use. It might look nice, but it won't be HD.

The reason for the difference between AV and component is: AV output is analog video and audio. The audio is only in 2channel stereo. The Component video cable uses three cables, yet still only uses analog 2 channel audio. This allows for much better video resolution. The HDMI cable carries all of the above through it's multiple pins and will honestly give the best picture and sound quality. But once again, if your TV isn't TRUE HD(1080 vertical lines of resolution) then you won't be able to see the difference between component and HDMI.

A lot of the hardware out there will put out at least 720 on the component, if not 1080. But some, such as my DVD player, only puts out the actual HD through the HDMI cable.

In all reality, if you're TV isn't at least 37", you probably don't have true 1080 HD. Mine is the half-breed that's between 720 and 1080. I believe it's 960 vertical lines. But if you do have true HD, you will benefit the most from using the expensive HDMI cable.

The other part is sound quality. If you want to have the best sound quality, use the digital output from the source to your reciever, if it's separate from the DVD player. Without a digital connection, you won't be able to utilize surround sound through your audio setup. People don't usually make the connection between 'dolby digital 5.1/7.1' and the actual connection you use. The digital signal cannot be transmitted through the analog out put or input.

The HDMI cable carries the digital audio signal so you can use your TV's digital output as well. You won't be able to tell the difference in sound quality between the optical and coax digital cables, so don't bother with the optical one. I just use a single AV cable, and it doesn't matter which color you use. Each component or AV cable has only two contacts, and they're only labeled L/R/V for your convenience when hooking them up.

I know it's long but I hope this clears things up for those who read it

hey how's it going?

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take care, thx

Question
Alright, so I've been trying to become involved in the high-definition era for a few years now. As far as I'm concerned, picking the right cables can be controversial. Whenever you go buy a new HDTV or an accessory component, the salesmen always ask if you have the appropriate connections. Then they always ask if you have "the best" connections that will provide the optimal picture and sound. So is there? Is a $15 cable going to provide equivalent performance to a $100 cable of the same type? And does this question have a different answer for analog and digital cables? I'd love to get the facts straight once and for all. Thanks! --Submitted by Derek M.

Answer
A good salesperson should ask you questions that produce the best choices for you that will allow your system to function at its highest performance level within your price range and living environment. In this busy world we live in, the sales interview is too time consuming to take place properly and the more common practice is the buyer finds the components/system at the best price and buys at the location of convenience with the understanding that the some system of cabling is included or in the case that no cabling is included the cheapest cabling available is bought to just make sure the system works.

After the components/system has been found to be functional the fine tuning of its performance becomes a consumer need, usually brought on by ads and a nagging feeling of having missed something along the way (what are all the connections on the back for). One of the areas that a consumer can upgrade at the component or system level is the cabling, just due to the fact that cabling doesn?t require a great deals of skill and tools. The industry/marketplace answers the need by providing cabling at various price levels. Once the marketplace has enough statistics a comfort price range is established usually incorporating, low end, good, and high end with very little reflection on true quality.

The final point, is your satisfaction. With most reliable vendors, you can buy what you want with the understanding you can and will return items your are unsatisfied with. So the next time you are faced with a salesperson asking the question ?do you have "the best" connections that will provide the optimal picture and sound?? listen and then tell them you will take both with the understanding that you will return what is unsatisfactory. Take the purchases home and see what you think and based on that return what you don?t like. When you are using your components/system you are using your analog receptor systems that you were born with. The components/system is passing the signal through an analog medium (the speaker and display) so you can experience it as a reproduction of the original media. The only time digital comes into play is when the reproduction of the original media requires conversion from digital to analog to allow you to experience it. Until we can be equipped with digital input jacks you should not worry yourself about the shape and size of ones and zeros.